Auxiliary freight-carrier.



C. E. MASON.

AUXILIARY FREIGHT CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED 050.29, I9I7- Patented Nov.26, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- W/T/VfSSES A TTOR/VEVS C. E. MASON.

AUXILIARY FREIGHT CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED 021:.29. l9ll.

1,286,048. Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- W/ T/VESSES l/Vl/E/VTOH Ci/Vason,

4 TTORA/EYS n1: noun runs cu. "min-ulna. wAsmNmam uv z C. E. MASON.AUXILIARY FREIGHT CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, I917.

l ,286,04:8. Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

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CASSITY E. Mason; or TABRYTOWN, NEW YonK.

AUXILIARY FREIGHT-CARRIER. -i

Specification of LettersPatent. hPa tented NOV. 26, 1918.

Application med December 29,1917. Serial No. 209,436,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GAssrrr E. MASON, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Tarrytown, in the county of Westchester and State ofNew York, haveinvented a new and Improved Auxiliary FreightCarrier, ofwhich thefollowing is a full, clear,

and exact description.

This invention relates to ships and has particular reference to a meansfor transporting freight or bulk merchandise from one shore toanotherwith safety andfacil- Among the obj ectsof the invention,therefore, is to provide a novel method of constructing floatswherebyjthe floats-may not only be made rapidly and of reliableconstruction, but which are particularly adapted for rapid manipulationand control having reference both. to the transportation and theloading'and unloading facilities,

Considering the lamentable fact that the number of available bottoms-forthe transportation of coal, food stuffs and other supplies isexceedingly limited with respect to the demand therefor, the primaryobject-of this invention may be saidfto be to 'prdvide means orfacllltles forincreasing thetonnage or capacity of the available shipsor vessels having either sail or power facilities. for self propulsionto such an extent as tomeet the immediate demand just indicated andwithout requiring any extensive or costly additions to or alterations ofthepresent equipment so far as the power means are concerned. p

A further object. of the invention is to provide a type of watertightshellor auxiliary float having a special form for passage through thewater with the least possible re sistance, and with means to tow thesamefrom the parent vessel. whereby the strain upon eitherthe connectionorthe vessels incident to any tendency for one of the vessels to moveindependently of the other will be reduced or eliminated.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a means in thenature of a bridle to be attached preferably at the stem of a parent orpower ship so that any suitable number of auxiliary powerless freightcarrying floats may be attached to a power vessel already in use andwhereby the gross capacity of the power vesselfor transportao purposes my be increased many fold.

connection applied for hoisting. Fig. 7 is a Still another object of theinvention is to provide a bulk freight carrying float of peculiarconstruction and adapted to be so hoistedand tilted'as to be loaded orunloaded directly by gravity, the commodity thus -being made to enter ordischarge from an opening provided directly in one end of the float. VWith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists inthe arrangemeiit and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, and while the. invention is not restricted to the exact detailsof construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose ofillustrating a practical. embodiment thereof reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate thesame parts inthe several views, and in which. H V y ,Figure. l i adiagrammatic representation of a power or parent. ship from which anumber of separate and independently buoyantfreight carrying elements orfloats arebeing towed, the connectionsbetween the parent ship and thefloats belng'made atthe bow or stem. Fig.2 isa plan view of one of 1 thecarrier units partly in longitudinal sectio'n:showing the. temporaryform therein.

Figs? and '4 are vertical transverse sections on the correspondinglinesof Fig. 2. '5 is a detail view of a bow or. a ship indicating theattachment means. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing thediagrammatic plan view indicating a pluralitykof units with atransversebrace be- .tweenthem. FigJ 8 indicates the application ofpower to one of the units wherebyit may be tilted for-filling withmaterial; and Figs; 9 and 10 are detail'perspective views fmodificdforms of attachmentyokes.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 10 indicates aparentship which maybe of any conventional or well known type orconstruction such as steam propelled or a sailing vessel adapted forself propulsion. 11 indicates the bow or stem, end thereof, andconnected to or over the stem is what I may term a bridle providlngattachment loops 12 on either bow of the stem. 13 indicates one of any.suitablenumber of auxiliary floats, described in detail below, andadapted to be supported in or upon the water independently of theparentship with respect to buoyancy, but connected either to the parentship by means of a flexible connection 14 connected to one of the loops12 and eye means 15. adjacent .to the point or how end of the floatwhereby the float is adapted to be towed by the power or parent ship,or, if desired, the auxiliary floats may be connected by flexibleconnections 14 from the bow thereof leading from the eyes 15 to loops 16adjacent to the stern end of other floats.

In view of the fact that in the rough or rolling seas any vessel issubjected to severe rolling or pitching influences and caused to partakeof an absolute speed subject to a great variation, as for instance whengliding freely into the trough of the sea or climbing up toward thecrest thereof, it is important to provide in connection with a tow lineor flexible connection some suitable automatic take-up means such asindicated at 17 to relieve the strain that would otherwise be incidentto sudden disparities in speed be tween the two connected units.Obviously the tow line 14 or 14 may consist of any suitable rope, cable,chain, or the like, preferably of flexible nature and of suflicientstrength for the purpose indicated. Any convenient means may be providedto connect the end of the tow line with the bridle and the towed floats,enabling the float units to be manipulated independently of the parentship at the harbors. For this independent manipulation of the floats itis obvious that any suitable tug or pilot boats may be employed butwhich per se c0nstitute no part of this present invention, having inmind that the primary purpose is to provide a means for increasing thecapacity or tonnage of the existing ships so as to meet the enormousdemand for immediate and reliable transportation of various commodities.

In carrying out this invention with respect to the float units in what Iregard at this time as the best practical form I construct or erect whatmay be termed a form whose outer surface corresponds to the interior ofthe finished shell or float body, said form being of a temporary naturebut of suflicient strength to build therearound a. metallic skeleton forthe super-structure of the finished shell. In the construction of thistemporary form various expedients may be resorted to depending upon thefacilities at the various shipyards where the inyention may bepractised, but in any event the element of time is of maximumimportance, such means or instrumentalities being brought into action aswillserve to produce a form of suitable size and strength for thepurpose just indicated. For the best practical service doubtless Ibelieve that the making of the form in relatively small panels orsections of sheet meta-l to be the most suitable inasmuch as eachsection such as indicated at 18 may be provided with side and endflanges l9 and 20 adapted to abut against similar features of adjacentsections and through which temporary fasteners such as bolts 21 may bepassed. In place of the flanges 19 and 20 a plurality of lugs may beformed, but having the same function or effect so as to produce a smoothcontinuous outer surface 22 for the form. According to this method ormeans for making the form it is obvious that after the float or carrieris completed thereover and is ready for launching the form sections maybe readily disconnected on the inside of the structure by the removal ofthe temporary fasteners 21 and the form parts may all be passed outthrough the opening at the stern end of the structure. The making ofthese form sections obviously is a relatively simple engineeringexpedient. With the parts properly designed and shaped and suitablynumbered or otherwise identified the erection thereof for the making ofany desired number of carrier units in succession may be performed withfacility and by employment of relatively cheap class of labor.Furthermore by the making of the form sections of sheet steel or thelike it is obvious that they may be handled with more facility and withless liklihood of damage thereto than if made from cheaper material. Iwish to point out, however, in this connection that in the absence ofsuitable material possessing the necessary strength for repeated use,the form may be made up of any suitable cheap material such as what iscommonly known in architecture as staff or a composition of plaster ofParis or any suitable reinforcement filler.

After the temporary form is erected a plurality of loops or rings 23 areset up in parallel planes transverse to the longer axis of the carrieror float, while at the stern is set up a rim 2-1 also in the nature of aring or annulus. This rim 24- constitutes in effect the rear end of theshell which may be described as being truncated by a plane perpendicularto said axis. The rim 24: may be of any suitable form as to the crosssection of the metal from which it is made, and it is intended toconstitute a seat for a closure plate or cap 25 adapted to fit thereinor against and held in watertight connection therewith by any suit-ablereliable and detachable means such for instance as a series of nuts 26screwed upon the projecting ends 27 of longitudinally extending rods 28or short bolts.

Extending from each ring 23 to the next in a forward direction arelongitudinal ribs 29, while other ribs 30 extend to the bow point ornose piece 31 of any suitable construction. These transverse elements,longitudinal connecting bars or rods, and any suitable interlacing ofreinforcing material being, flexibly connected to the eye or loop suchas wires, pipes, rodsor the like'indicatedat 32, may be considered asthe skeleton of the shell. In this connection I would point out at thistime that the character of the material in the construction of theskeleton may partake ofla wide range for the reason that in variouslocalities the source of supply for thiswork may vary to a great extent.Ordinarily speaking, however, ordinary pipe material may be employed,and the pipes" may be filled with concrete, if desired, to stiffen andstrengthen them.

The rings 23 adjacent to the bow and stern ends of the shell may beformed into eyes or loops, one on each side of the structure andindicated at 15 and 16 above. Obviously I do not propose to be limitedas to any particular manner of forming these eyes or loops or securingthem strongly to the skeleton structure. It may be preferred,

however, to so provide the eyes or loops as not to project rigidlybeyond the curved surface of the shell. From this fact it follows thatthe likelihood ofone carrier puncturing or otherwise damaging another intransit will be reduced to a minimum, or obviated. When the carrierunits 18 are connected to the parent ship independently of one anotheras indicated in Fig. 1 and without transverse connection between theunits there is sometimes a possibility that in a rough sea the units mayimpinge against one another, but ordinarily no damage result because ofthe nature of the construction of the units. It may be preferable,however, as indicated in Fig. 7 to provide transverse braces or stays 34between adjacent units, the ends of the stays, however,

features of the carrier units so that the several units will bepractically free for independent vertical movement under the force ofthe waves. For the most efficient towing or the least amount ofresistance it may be better to so connect the carrier units to theparent ship that so far as possible each unit will follow in the wake ofanother thereby not only will the water resistance be reduced but thelikelihood that the units will be caused to impinge against or upon oneanother will be reduced to a minimum.

After the skeleton above referred to is completed and all the partsrigidly braced with respect to one another with a view of stiffening thestructure to resist not only crushing strains but strains directedoutwardly in every direction, the skeleton is thoroughly filled withsuitable plastic material such as concrete or the like so as to fill allof the interstices longitudinally between the rings and between the rimand the next adjacent ring and between the foremost ring and the nosepiece 31 and radially between the outer surface of the temporary formand the geometric surface defined by the outer surfaces of the nosepiece, rim and rings and What becomes the actual outer surface of thecompleted unit. Obviously after the lapse of a few hours this fillingmaterial or concrete hardens sufliciently to permit the laborers toenter the structure through the opening in the rim 2% and disassemblethe sectional form or remove the form of whatever character, the form orthe parts thereof being passed then out through the ring opening. Thestructure is then complete ready for the application of the closure 25.

In practice the outer surface or skin of the carrier unit may besupplied with suitable lubricant such as graphite, grease, or oil, forthe purpose of reducing the skin friction thereof while being towed.through the water.

The attention of the reader is now called once more to the bridle oryoke 11 shown in detail in Figs. 5, 9 and 10. This yoke includes aplurality of hooks or claws 11 and which are adapted to engage up andrearwardly over the nose of the parent ship while the main body thereoflies in front of or over the'stem 35. The construction of the yoke issuch as to adapt it'with little or no alteration to existing ships andyet constitute a means whereby any suitable number of floats or carrierunits 13 may be flexibly connected thereto either through loops 12having individual traces 12 to the body of the yoke or through a bar 12on each side. of the bow of the parent ship which may have a singleconnection 12 leading to the yoke.

While I have referred herein particularly to the use of concrete as thefiller for the body of the shell it is obvious that sheet metal or othermaterials may be employed for this purpose and hence I do not propose tobe limited in the interpretation or scope of the claims unnecessarily.

I claim:

1. The herein described freight carrying float having a metal skeletonstructure serving to strengthen the float so as to resist all strains towhich it may be subjected in practice, said skeleton including a ringshaped rim at one end providing an opening to the hollow interior, meansfilling the skeleton making an imperforate shell, and a closure for saidopening.

2. The herein descrlbed freight carrying float of elongated formsubstantially circular in cross section from one end to the other, thestructure comprising a metal skeleton including a ring shaped rim at thestern constituting a seat for a closure, said skeleton also including aplurality of transverse rings spaced from one another longitudinally,longitudinal stringers extending between rings and between the said 10forced concrete,

rim and the ring adjacent thereto, and also including attachment meansfor securing the float to a suitable power, and a plastic superstructurefilling the skeleton and supported in place thereby.

3. The herein described hollow freight carrying float of substantiallycigar shape, having one pointed end and a rounded oval body, said bodybeing constructed of reinand the reinforcement means providing eyes orloops for the attachment of power means thereto.

4. The herein described Watertight hollOW freight carrying float havingpivot connecting means adjacent to the center of its 15 Copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing theCommissioner of Patents, 'Washington, D. C.

